A metamodel to integrate business processes time perspective in BPMN 2.0

Context: Business Process Management (BPM) is becoming a strategic advantage for organizations tostreamline their operations. Most business experts are betting for OMG Business Process Model and No- tation (BPMN) as de-facto standard (ISO/IEC 19510:2013) and selected technology to model processes. Thetemporal dimension underlies in any kind of process however, technicians need to shape this perspectivethat must also coexist with task control flow aspects, as well as resource and case perspectives. BPMNpoorly gathers temporary rules. This is why there are contributions that extend the standard to coversuch dimension. BPMN is mainly an imperative language. There are research contributions showing timeconstraints in BPMN, such as (i) BPMN patterns to express each rule with a combination of artifacts, thusthese approaches increase the use of imperative BPMN style, and (ii) new decorators to capture timerules semantics giving clearer and simpler comprehensible specifications. Nevertheless, these extensionscannot yet be found in the present standard.Objective: To define a time rule taxonomy easily found in most business processes and look for an ap- proach that applies each rule with current BPMN 2.0 standard in a declarative way.Method: A model-driven approach is used to propose a BPMN metamodel extension to address time- perspective.Results: We look at a declarative approach where new time specifications may overlie the main controlflow of a BPMN process. This proposal is totally supported with current BPMN standard, giving a BPMNmetamodel extension with OCL constraints. We also use AQUA-WS as a software project case study whichis planned and managed with MS Project. We illustrate business process extraction from project plans.Conclusion: This paper suggests to handle business temporal rules with current BPMN standard, alongwith other business perspectives like resources and cases. This approach can be applied to reverse engi- neering processes from legacy databases.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2013-46928-C3-3-RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2015- 71938-RED

Modeling IoT-aware Business Processes - A State of the Art Report

This research report presents an analysis of the state of the art of modeling Internet of Things (IoT)-aware business processes. IOT links the physical world to the digital world. Traditionally, we would find information about events and processes in the physical world in the digital world entered by humans and humans using this information to control the physical world. In the IoT paradigm, the physical world is equipped with sensors and actuators to create a direct link with the digital world. Business processes are used to coordinate a complex environment including multiple actors for a common goal, typically in the context of administrative work. In the past few years, we have seen research efforts on the possibilities to model IoT- aware business processes, extending process coordination to real world entities directly. This set of research efforts is relatively small when compared to the overall research effort into the IoT and much of the work is still in the early research stage. To create a basis for a bridge between IoT and BPM, the goal of this report is to collect and analyze the state of the art of existing frameworks for modeling IoT-aware business processes.Comment: 42 page

Workaround Aware Business Process Modeling

Workarounds are an omnipresent part of organizational settings where formal rules and regulations describe standardized processes. Still, only few studies have focused on incorporating workarounds in designing information systems (IS) or as a part of management decisions. Therefore, this study provides an extension to the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) by conducting a metamodel transformation, which includes workarounds. As a result, the Workaround Process Modeling Notation (WPMN) (1) leads organizations in designing workaround aware systems, (2) supports managers in deciding how to deal with workarounds, and (3) provides auditors with visualizations of non-compliance. We exemplify how this technique can be used to model a workaround in the process of accessing patient-identifying data in a hospital. We evaluated the model and find it particular suitable as an empirically grounded BPMN extension

Resource-based modeling and simulation of business processes

International audienceThe simulation-based analysis of business processes (BPs) is a key activity at various phases of the BP lifecycle, from the design phase, to predict the process behavior, down to the execution and improvement phases, to recover from possible performance downgrades and/or improve the process performance. The BP analysis is usually carried out taking as input the BP description in a given BP modeling language. This paper specifically addresses BPs described in BPMN (Business Process Model & Notation) and introduces an approach that exploits both model-driven principles and the DEVS (Discrete Event System Specification) formalism to first annotate the BPMN model with the allocation of task resources described in terms of performance and reliability properties and then transform the annotated BPMN model into a DEVS-based model, which can be eventually executed to get the analysis results of interest. The BPMN annotation is carried out by use of PyBPMN, a lightweight BPMN extension that allows business analysts to specify the allocation of task resources and their properties in terms of both time-related attributes and reliability attributes. The paper overviews the proposed approach and gives the details of the DEVS components that are used to model the behavior of the corresponding BPMN primitives

How Should Business Informatics Integrate Service, Process, Work System, and Enterprise Orientations?

Current research related to the subject matter of business informatics reflects divergent orientations that are fundamentally about representing, analyzing, and designing services or processes or work systems or enterprises. After summarizing those four orientations and citing typical exemplars, this paper identifies a variety of paths toward greater integration between different orientations within business informatics. It identifies central topics for each orientation along with areas in which each orientation provides ideas that complement other orientations and reveal possible synergies. Both the approach for identifying potential synergies and the proposed synergies themselves could encourage greater integration within business informatics

Modeling Service Choreographies with Rule-enhanced Business Processes

The participation at EDOC 2010 was overwhelming in every positive sense, and I am very thankful to the committee for this award. Our presentation was received highly positive and triggered several questions. The questions were mainly about the relations of our work with the use of ontology and vocabulary representation languages, and our plans for developing executable models rather than generating code from models. In fact, this was already in line with our previous plans and research directions. Some of these discussions even continued during the following days. In particular, we had plans for two concrete collaborations. One is related to the development of a formal semantics of the rBPMN languages by using process algebra, that is, by using the mCRL2 language in particular. Moreover, we also created a common plan for integration of semi-structured English language for defining business rules and vocabularies. This will also allow us to have a more effective way to capture rules in rBPMN process models. Moreover, our presentation of the rBPMN editor, as an practical implementation tool for the work with the rBPMN language received a special attention, and several researchers have already approached us to establish research collaboration and/or to use our tool, which is now publically available. The overall experience was also extremely valuable. The program of the conference covered nearly all of the diverse topics in enterprise computing. That is, the selected papers cover engineering aspects in many phases of development life cycle of enterprise systems, especially those designed for distributed environments. I have also delivered a keynote at the VORTE 2010 workshop with the audience with was the largest of all workshop keynotes at the conference. The participants very positively received my insights. In a very interactive session, we discussed some of the main research challenges important for better integration of business rules and business process modeling languages.The research community has so far mainly focused on the problem of modeling of service orchestrations in the domain of service composition, while modeling of service choreographies has attracted less attention. The following challenges in choreography modeling are tackled in this paper: i) choreography models are not well-connected with the underlying business vocabulary models. ii) there is limited support for decoupling parts of business logic from complete choreography models. This reduces dynamic changes of choreographies; iii) choreography models contain redundant elements of shared business logic, which might lead to an inconsistent implementation and incompatible behavior. Our proposal – rBPMN – is an extension of a business process modeling language with rule and choreography modeling support. rBPMN is defined by weaving the metamodels of the Business Process Modeling Notation and REWERSE Rule Markup Language. To evaluate our proposal, we use service-interaction patterns and compare our approach with related solutions

A Model Based Framework for IoT-Aware Business Process Management

IoT-aware Business Processes (BPs) that exchange data with Internet of Things (IoT) devices, briefly referred to as IoT-aware BPs, are gaining momentum in the BPM field. Introducing IoT technologies from the early stages of the BP development process requires dealing with the complexity and heterogeneity of such technologies at design and analysis time. This paper analyzes widely used IoT frameworks and ontologies to introduce a BPMN extension that improves the expressiveness of relevant BP modeling notations and allows an appropriate representation of IoT devices from both an architectural and a behavioral perspective. In the BP management field, the use of simulation-based approaches is recognized as an effective technology for analyzing BPs. Simulation models need to be parameterized according to relevant properties of the process under study. Unfortunately, such parameters may change during the process operational life, thus making the simulation model invalid with respect to the actual process behavior. To ease the analysis of IoT-aware BPs, this paper introduces a model-driven method for the automated development of digital twins of actual business processes. The proposed method also exploits data retrieved by IoT sensors to automatically reconfigure the simulation model, to make the digital twin continuously coherent and compliant with its actual counterpart

A Model-Driven Approach for the Design, Implementation, and Execution of Software Development Methods

[EN] Software development projects are diverse in nature. For this reason, software companies are often forced to define their methods in-house. In order to define methods efficiently and effectively, software companies require systematic solutions that are built upon sound methodical foundations. Providing these solutions is the main goal of the Method Engineering discipline. Method Engineering is the discipline to design, construct, and adapt methods, techniques, and tools for the development of information systems. Over the last two decades, a lot of research work has been performed in this area. However, despite its potential benefits, Method Engineering is not widely used in industrial settings. Some of the causes of this reality are the high theoretical complexity of Method Engineering and the lack of adequate software support. In this thesis, we aim to mitigate some of the problems that affect Method Engineering by providing a novel methodological approach that is built upon Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) foundations. The use of MDE enables a rise in abstraction, automation, and reuse that allows us to alleviate the complexity of our Method Engineering approach. Furthermore, by leveraging MDE techniques (such as metamodeling, model transformations, and models at runtime), our approach supports three phases of the Method Engineering lifecycle: design, implementation, and execution. This is unlike traditional Method Engineering approaches, which, in general, only support one of these phases. In order to provide software support for our proposal, we developed a Computer-Aided Method Engineering (CAME) environment that is called MOSKitt4ME. To ensure that MOSKitt4ME offered the necessary functionality, we identified a set of functional requirements prior to developing the tool. Then, after these requirements were identified, we defined the architecture of our CAME environment, and, finally, we implemented the architecture in the context of Eclipse. The thesis work was evaluated by means of a study that involved the participation of end users. In this study, MOSKitt4ME was assessed by means of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Think Aloud method. While the TAM allowed us to measure usefulness and ease of use in a subjective manner, the Think Aloud method allowed us to analyze these measures objectively. Overall, the results were favorable. MOSKitt4ME was highly rated in perceived usefulness and ease of use; we also obtained positive results with respect to the users' actual performance and the difficulty experienced.[ES] Los proyectos de desarrollo de software son diversos por naturaleza. Por este motivo, las compañías de software se ven forzadas frecuentemente a definir sus métodos de manera interna. Para poder definir métodos de forma efectiva y eficiente, las compañías necesitan soluciones sistemáticas que estén definidas sobre unos fundamentos metodológicos sólidos. Proporcionar estas soluciones es el principal objetivo de la Ingeniería de Métodos. La Ingeniería de Métodos es la disciplina que aborda el diseño, la construcción y la adaptación de métodos, técnicas y herramientas para el desarrollo de sistemas de información. Durante las dos últimas décadas, se ha llevado a cabo mucho trabajo de investigación en esta área. Sin embargo, pese a sus potenciales beneficios, la Ingeniería de Métodos no se aplica ampliamente en contextos industriales. Algunas de las principales causas de esta situación son la alta complejidad teórica de la Ingeniería de Métodos y la falta de un apropiado soporte software. En esta tesis, pretendemos mitigar algunos de los problemas que afectan a la Ingeniería de Métodos proporcionando una propuesta metodológica innovadora que está basada en la Ingeniería Dirigida por Modelos (MDE). El uso de MDE permite elevar el nivel de abstracción, automatización y reuso, lo que posibilita una reducción de la complejidad de nuestra propuesta. Además, aprovechando técnicas de MDE (como por ejemplo el metamodelado, las transformaciones de modelos y los modelos en tiempo de ejecución), nuestra aproximación da soporte a tres fases del ciclo de vida de la Ingeniería de Métodos: diseño, implementación y ejecución. Esto es a diferencia de las propuestas existentes, las cuales, por lo general, sólo dan soporte a una de estas fases. Con el objetivo de proporcionar soporte software para nuestra propuesta, implementamos una herramienta CAME (Computer-Aided Method Engineering) llamada MOSKitt4ME. Para garantizar que MOSKitt4ME proporcionaba la funcionalidad necesaria, definimos un conjunto de requisitos funcionales como paso previo al desarrollo de la herramienta. Tras la definción de estos requisitos, definimos la arquitectura de la herramienta CAME y, finalmente, implementamos la arquitectura en el contexto de Eclipse. El trabajo desarrollado en esta tesis se evaluó por medio de un estudio donde participaron usuarios finales. En este estudio, MOSKitt4ME se evaluó por medio del Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) y del método Think Aloud. Mientras que el TAM permitió medir utilidad y facilidad de uso de forma subjetiva, el método Think Aloud permitió analizar estas medidas objetivamente. En general, los resultados obtenidos fueron favorables. MOSKitt4ME fue valorado de forma positiva en cuanto a utilidad y facilidad de uso percibida; además, obtuvimos resultados positivos en cuanto al rendimiento objetivo de los usuarios y la dificultad experimentada.[CA] Els projectes de desenvolupament de programari són diversos per naturalesa. Per aquest motiu, les companyies es veuen forçades freqüenment a definir els seus mètodes de manera interna. Per poder definir mètodes de forma efectiva i eficient, les companyies necessiten solucions sistemàtiques que estiguin definides sobre uns fundaments metodològics sòlids. Proporcionar aquestes solucions és el principal objectiu de l'Enginyeria de Mètodes. L'Enginyeria de Mètodes és la disciplina que aborda el diseny, la construcció i l'adaptació de mètodes, tècniques i eines per al desenvolupament de sistemes d'informació. Durant les dues últimes dècades, s'ha dut a terme molt de treball de recerca en aquesta àrea. No obstant, malgrat els seus potencials beneficis, l'Enginyeria de Mètodes no s'aplica àmpliament en contextes industrials. Algunes de les principals causes d'aquesta situació són l'alta complexitat teòrica de l'Enginyeria de Mètodes i la falta d'un apropiat suport de programari. En aquesta tesi, pretenem mitigar alguns dels problemes que afecten a l'Enginyeria de Mètodes proporcionant una proposta metodològica innovadora que està basada en l'Enginyeria Dirigida per Models (MDE). L'ús de MDE ens permet elevar el nivell d'abstracció, automatització i reutilització, possibilitant una reducció de la complexitat de la nostra proposta. A més a més, aprofitant tècniques de MDE (com per exemple el metamodelat, les transformacions de models i els models en temps d'execució), la nostra aproximació suporta tres fases del cicle de vida de l'Enginyeria de Mètodes: diseny, implementació i execució. Açò és a diferència de les propostes existents, les quals, en general, només suporten una d'aquestes fases. Amb l'objectiu de proporcionar suport de programari per a la nostra proposta, implementàrem una eina CAME (Computer-Aided Method Engineering) anomenada MOSKitt4ME. Per garantir que MOSKitt4ME oferia la funcionalitat necessària, definírem un conjunt de requisits funcionals com a pas previ al desenvolupament de l'eina. Després de la definició d'aquests requisits, definírem la arquitectura de l'eina CAME i, finalment, implementàrem l'arquitectura en el contexte d'Eclipse. El treball desenvolupat en aquesta tesi es va avaluar per mitjà d'un estudi on van participar usuaris finals. En aquest estudi, MOSKitt4ME es va avaluar per mitjà del Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) i el mètode Think Aloud. Mentre que el TAM va permetre mesurar utilitat i facilitat d'ús de manera subjectiva, el mètode Think Aloud va permetre analitzar aquestes mesures objectivament. En general, els resultats obtinguts van ser favorables. MOSKitt4ME va ser valorat de forma positiva pel que fa a utilitat i facilitat d'ús percebuda; a més a més, vam obtenir resultats positius pel que fa al rendiment objectiu dels usuaris i a la dificultat experimentada.Cervera Úbeda, M. (2015). A Model-Driven Approach for the Design, Implementation, and Execution of Software Development Methods [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/53931TESI

Towards a Metamodel supporting E-government Collaborative Business Processes Management within a Service-based Interoperability Platform

Interoperability between different organizations is a complex task, where a key element is to be able to define without ambiguity the concepts that are involved in each domain and their relations. A key aspect for enabling e-government is the technological support for complex interaction scenarios, defining collaborative Business Processes (BPs) that are the basis for these interactions. E-government collaborative BPs involve several and heterogeneous participants: organizations, partners, and users, with different capabilities, needs, and available technical support. The goal of this paper is to present ongoing research on e-government cross-organizational collaborative BPs support in a service-based interoperability platform. This proposal is focused on the formalization and exploitation of e-government knowledge and information (i.e., metamodels and ontologies) to improve the definition, automated generation, control, monitoring and improvement of e-government collaborative BPs